Hope Hadfield and Yvonne Bustamante have both attended the past two #WomensMarchLA and are ready for a third year. They showed up early Saturday to climb onto a bus for a ride to Los Angeles for the annual Women’s March. Photo: Hunter Lee, SCNG

Activists and elected officials joined community members for charter bus rides to Pershing Square. Organizers started with a five-bus lineup, but added a sixth because of the demand. The buses were paid for by Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce’s officeholder account.

“Today is not a moment. Today is a movement of people and women coming together to say we have value,” said Pearce.

With signs, posters, banners and flags in hands, demonstrators showed up before the crack of dawn at Harvey Milk Park and Michelle Obama Public Library.

Hope Hadfield and Yvonne Bustamante attended the first two marches in Los Angeles. “It’s not a protest anymore” Hope says. “It’s about coming together to stand for the same ideals”

Councilmembers Lena Gonzalez and Robert Uranga joined Pearce and other demonstrators at Harvey Milk Park.

The buses dropped demonstrators off at Pershing Square by 8 a.m. Almost six hours later demonstrators returned to the buses, exhausted from all the activity on the first warm day in more than a week.

Most passengers opted to doze off while others shared stories about their experience marching.

“I learned so much,” Mary Waddell, who was attending her first Women’s March, said. “I just listened to everyone’s conversations and tried to absorbed what they said.”